GA Russell Posted April 9 Report Posted April 9 Recommended. Jerry Clower said, "I don't tell funny stories. I tell stories funny." The author fits that bill. Quote
ejp626 Posted April 12 Report Posted April 12 I enjoyed the Gide, but not as much on the second go around. That is often, but not always, the case with me. I read Dorothy Edwards's Winter Sonata and was underwhelmed. Just not enough going on in this tale of frustrated love for me. I'm rereading Tim O'Brien's America Fantastica for a book club, and then will read Kobo Abe's The Woman in the Dunes. Quote
Pim Posted April 15 Report Posted April 15 (edited) these two will keep me busy the coming time I think Edited April 15 by Pim Quote
Dub Modal Posted April 16 Report Posted April 16 Dark Victory: Ronald Reagan, MCA & the Mob by Dan Moldea Audiobook on Spotify. Helluva first chapter synopsis on the beginning of the Storyville jazz scene in New Orleans and its subsequent transition to Chicago. Quote
GA Russell Posted April 20 Report Posted April 20 Worthwhile. Some years ago I read a WSJ article about MacDonald which suggested that his early novels might be up my alley. Quote
rostasi Posted April 22 Report Posted April 22 2 hours ago, JSngry said: Lee Hyla!?!?!! Yeah, I've been on the floor searching for a 50 year old magazine while helping someone create a promo for this Wednesday's show ... and I came across this little gem from 2019. If you like what you read above, you can still get copies thru Bandcamp for $15. Quote
JSngry Posted April 22 Report Posted April 22 I can read it online. But I do have a copy of We Speak Etruscan, played it just a few days ago, in fact. Held my attention! Quote
rostasi Posted April 22 Report Posted April 22 (edited) 43 minutes ago, JSngry said: I can read it online. But I do have a copy of We Speak Etruscan, played it just a few days ago, in fact. Held my attention! I guess you'd have to be at a New York library - especially the "Lincoln Center" branch - to find that disc in such a place. Surprised that Nate doesn't mention the Avant label one ... but, it was my first full introduction to his work (the CRI and Opus One ones were partial intros). Anyway, you'll get a good overview above, but if you've already got full access online, then there you go... Edited April 22 by rostasi Quote
GA Russell Posted April 25 Report Posted April 25 I enjoy the Valentino series, but this one was below average. Take away all the writing about the detective's relationships with all the women in the book, and there's not much story left. By the way Joe, Criterion is mentioned on page 228! Quote
ejp626 Posted May 9 Report Posted May 9 I just finished State of Grace by Joy Williams. The writing, as ever, is fine, but I just really couldn't get into the story. I have a few more by her to read, so I am hoping I like the next one better. I'm just starting The Book of Lamentations by Rosario Castellanos, which seems promising, but I won't know until I really get into it. Quote
Pim Posted May 11 Report Posted May 11 On 4/15/2025 at 9:26 PM, Pim said: these two will keep me busy the coming time I think I have finished the book by Gasset. I am only on page 150 of Spinoza. The ethics is probably one of the most complicated philosophy books. It is more studying than reading but I enjoy every letter. If a philosopher is complicated and I don't like it I can't get through it but Spinoza is from another world. It is bizarre how someone in that time could think so revolutionary. A true genius. It is not for nothing that Einstein said that he believed in the God of Spinoza. I will continue reading and I must say that the translator's notes help enormously. However, I like to alternate with lighter fare. That is why I keep this one next to me. Written in the third century after Christ, this book contains a great deal of biographical information about all kinds of ancient philosophers who have been forgotten. I always find it fascinating to read books from this period because they give an enormously vivid picture of what life was like at that time. And that often resembles our current life more than you would think Quote
Rabshakeh Posted May 17 Report Posted May 17 I've decided to read David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest finally. For whatever reason the book seems to have replaced Ulysses as the book that an intelligent person is supposed to have read, and it now seems to be the go-to indicator for young people who came of age with social media to determine whether someone is a serious reader. I have enjoyed other internet era touchstones like 2666 and I am a shallow person so I decided it is time that I had to read it. My initial impression 100 pages in is surprise at how terrible it is. It seems begging on its knees desperate to be Pynchon, but Wallace is just a terrible writer sentence-by-sentence (some of the sentances are eye-raisingly bad without ever being funny), the tone is leaden and tiresome, and the only thing interesting about the ideas and setting is that Wallace considered them interesting. The purpose of the footnotes seems to be to give academics something in the book's form to discuss. But mostly it is that cringing humiliating derivative relationship to Pynchon (similar to e.g. Neal Stephenson ripping off William Gibson's classics) is really distracting for me. I can only assume that it is famous because it is long; has encyclopedic pretentions (well, foot notes); because the main character fits the internet archetype of the gifted kid dropout; and because the people reading it confuse an inability to write with complexity. It feels.at this stage like it is going to be a long 981 pages, so if I am missing anything let me know. I'm always willing to be correct. Perhaps the book is plot driven or picks up as it goes. On 5/12/2025 at 2:34 AM, GA Russell said: Eleven Lew Archer short stories. Macdonald can have a lot of plotting issues (the opposite of Agatha Christie's: everyone just confesses immediately upon being confirmed and in sequential order), but when his books are good they are very good and among my favourites of their type. Quote
medjuck Posted May 17 Report Posted May 17 4 hours ago, Rabshakeh said: I've decided to read David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest finally. For whatever reason the book seems to have replaced Ulysses as the book that an intelligent person is supposed to have read, and it now seems to be the go-to indicator for young people who came of age with social media to determine whether someone is a serious reader. I have enjoyed other internet era touchstones like 2666 and I am a shallow person so I decided it is time that I had to read it. My initial impression 100 pages in is surprise at how terrible it is. It seems begging on its knees desperate to be Pynchon, but Wallace is just a terrible writer sentence-by-sentence (some of the sentances are eye-raisingly bad without ever being funny), the tone is leaden and tiresome, and the only thing interesting about the ideas and setting is that Wallace considered them interesting. The purpose of the footnotes seems to be to give academics something in the book's form to discuss. But mostly it is that cringing humiliating derivative relationship to Pynchon (similar to e.g. Neal Stephenson ripping off William Gibson's classics) is really distracting for me. I can only assume that it is famous because it is long; has encyclopedic pretentions (well, foot notes); because the main character fits the internet archetype of the gifted kid dropout; and because the people reading it confuse an inability to write with complexity. It feels.at this stage like it is going to be a long 981 pages, so if I am missing anything let me know. I'm always willing to be correct. Perhaps the book is plot driven or picks up as it goes. Macdonald can have a lot of plotting issues (the opposite of Agatha Christie's: everyone just confesses immediately upon being confirmed and in sequential order), but when his books are good they are very good and among my favourites of their type. I had exactly the same response to Infinite Jest. One of the few books I've never finished after reading 100 pages. (And I love Pynchon). Also agree about MacDonald. Quote
Dub Modal Posted May 18 Report Posted May 18 Like Moldea's Dark Victory, the beginning of this book includes some interesting connections and happenings in the early jazz scene. This one touches on the earlier part of the post war era too. So far, six chapters in and it's extremely good. Quote
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